What’s the best compliment one can bestow upon an avid home cook? A good ole’ fashioned plate-lick. A plate-lick of the two-fisted, full tongue extension variety.
A moan of pleasure is always good too, as is a squeal of delight followed by a recipe request, but not much beats an exuberant plate-lick.
Needless to say, I was overjoyed when my Supper Club dish was met with a hearty tongue swipe of the plate. Yeah! Who knew a fennel and avocado salad with candied kumquats and horseradish dressing could inspire such delight? I do think it was the dressing, so if you haven’t yet made it, what are you waiting for?
The salad was just the start of what turned out to be a delicious parade of food during our 10th Supper Club dinner. We were all so busy laughing, chatting and licking plates, that nobody bothered to take any photos of the gorgeous dishes. Bummer for my blog.
Our hosts for this particular dinner chose a theme similar to that of the foodie TV show Chopped. The hosts gave each of us three ingredients, which we then had to use to create our given course for the meal. Ingredients and courses as follows:

• First Course Mystery Basket: horseradish, avocado, mascarpone cheese
• Main Course Mystery Basket: duck, chocolate, rosemary
• Side Dish Mystery Basket: eggplant, walnuts, capers
• Dessert Mystery Basket: lemons, tomatoes, ginger

The results? Succulent, perfectly cooked duck breasts paired with a mole-type sauce. A chunky eggplant dish topped with a flavorful parmesan crust. And a silky lemon panna cotta paired with a tomato jam and a tomato-ginger chutney. In other words, a complete success! I look forward to the next Supper Club event, which we are hosting this spring. Theme to be determined.